May 2022 Newsletter
Hello:
I hope this finds you well. If you are reading a good book and would like to share it, let me know and I’ll post it on Facebook and mention it in my next newsletter. I just finished The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles. I enjoyed it.
The big news is that I’ve finished writing “Stealing Picasso!” I’m still on target for a fall release. I’ll have an excerpt on my website after I’m finished with the editing process.
Here’s a clue from “Stealing Picasso.” Juan Peron served as a military attaché in Italy during the early years of World War II. As President of Argentina, he established escape routes—ratlines—in Spain and Italy for SS Officers and Nazi party members. The ranking officers brought gold and valuable paintings to fund their relocation. A popular rumor in Argentina is that Hitler escaped on the ratlines; La Viuda Negra (The Black Widow and a central character) is evil enough to pass as his granddaughter.
Let The Earth Breathe: We went for a nature walk after my presentation at the library in Versailles. It was a lot of fun. Here are a few pictures of what’s currently blooming in our gardens. Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), Lance-leafed Coreopsis (Coreopsis lanceolata), Eastern Bluestar, (Amsonia tabernaemontana), White Beardtongue, (Penstemon digitalis.)
Here’s the link to upcoming presentations.
If you can’t make it to a presentation in person, here is the link to my recent videos. They are short, 5-6 minutes. Video link.
Since Entartete Kunst figures proximately in both “Stealing Renoir,” and “Stealing Picasso,” here’s an overview.
Hitler was a failed artist, so he punished the German art establishment by ordering 17,000 canvases removed from German museums. Most of the canvases were considered to reflect deterioration in art brought about by Jewish and Bolshevik influences. Following an exhibition of this Degenerate Art (Entartete Kunst), Joseph Goebbels, German Reich Minister of Propaganda, decided to sell some of these works abroad to raise foreign currency to help the war effort. The Theodore Fischer held an auction on June 30, 1939 at the Hotel Lucerne in Switzerland. A Van Gogh brought the highest price. Many canvases were sold for 5 or 10 Swiss Francs. 28 to 33 canvases were never taken out of storage and offered for sale. Nobody knows what they were or what happened to them! Elizabeth Moynihan has a pretty good idea, though. Click here to read more.
Here’s the link if you’d like to schedule a presentation, or know of anybody who might be interested. (I have a sliding scale.) Click here to schedule.
Reviews on Amazon are a big deal and really help me out. If you haven’t already, please take a minute or two and review one—or all of my books. The links to each book are below. You will have to scroll down the page to reach the review section.
Thank you! Happy reading.